Here are the photos: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_23402864

The breaststroke wake-up calls came early in their high school swimming careers.
La Canada High School’s Brandon Nguyen got the call four years ago, during his freshman season. Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Kirsten Vose answered last season, her sophomore year.

Both had impressive seasons in the stroke this year and earned Star-News Swimmer of the Year honors as a result.

Nguyen dropped two seconds off his time this year, going under 57 seconds for the first time, and he finished seventh in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 finals.

Breaking the school record in the breast as a freshman completely changed my perspective of swimming,” the recently graduated senior said. “It kept pushing me for more. The 100 breast set the standard for me.”

Vose, a sophomore, won her first CIF-SS Division 1 title, going 1:02.57 in the event.

“It was quite exciting to win the breast,” she said. “It was really a big challenge with all of the other people in the meet. I have raced them in club and I know how fast they are and I know how big of a challenge it is.

“It was a dream of mine to win.”

It wasn’t quite all a dream season for Nguyen. He originally accepted a nomination to swim for Navy, but his application was rejected because of a peanut allergy. He said he will take the next school year off and train, hoping to land a scholarship at another school starting with the 2014-15 season.
“It’s best for me,” he said. “I won’t burn out.”

The highlight may have been winning the Rio Hondo League title in a personal best time of 56.96. He swam a 57.02 in the CIF finals.

“That 56 was a shock to me,” he said. “I definitely enjoyed four years of high school swimming, starting from the bottom to the top.”

Nguyen had the area’s fastest time in the 200 individual medley, going 1:51.35 to finish sixth in CIF. He swam the second leg for the 200 medley relay team, which finished eighth, and the anchor leg for the 400 freestyle relay team, which finished 15th.”

Vose won the Mission League title in the breast with a 1:02.82 swim. She also won the league’s 200 IM crown and finished sixth in the CIF finals, going 2:05.63. Her fastest time of the season was in the CIF prelims, when she went 2:03.47.

She swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay team, which featured a stirring performance from teammate Kate Herrill to give the Tologs the CIF-SS title.

“In CIF the most exciting race was the medley relay,” she said. “It was so close. We knew it would be hard, but we were hoping for the best.”

She also swam the anchor leg for the 200 free relay team, which finished fourth.

Vose and her teammate’s performance helped the Tologs to fourth overall, the best finish by a Mission League team.

“It was definitely fun with all of my teammates,” Vose said.

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Boys Coach of the Year: ART LOPEZ, La Canada
La Canada won the Rio Hondo League crown and then tried improving in the ultra-competitive CIF-SS Division 1 finals. The Spartans finished a respectable 10th. They had four entries in the championship finals and five entries in the consolation finals. It is the third year the league has competed in Division 1.

Girls Coach of the Year: STEVE BERGEN, Flintridge Sacred Heart
It’s hard to make an impact in the CIF-SS Division 1 finals with only a handful of swimmers. Bergen manipulated his Flintridge Sacred Heart team to find a way. The Tologs came through with two wins and six finishes in the top nine and a seventh-place overall finish.

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FIRST TEAM — BOYS
Dane Bell, So., La Canada
The distance swimmer placed 13th in the CIF-SS Division 1 500 freestyle in an area-leading time of 4:33.57 He won the Rio Hondo League 200 free title in 1:46.32. He did not swim in the 200 free in CIF. He swam the third leg on the 400 free relay team, which finished 15th in CIF.

Justin Chiu, Jr., Keppel
The Aztecs stepped up to Division 2 and Chui did not win CIF-SS titles like he did in 2012 in Division 3. He finished third in the 100 breaststroke in an area-best time of 55.61 and he was fifth in the 100 butterfly in 51.01, the second-fastest time in the area.

Peter Loakes, Jr., La Canada
The junior won Rio Hondo League titles in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. He dropped his 50 free time to 21.44 in the CIF-SS Division 1 finals. He swam a best 47.20 in the 100 in league and was 20th in CIF. He swam the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay, which placed eighth in the CIF finals.

Javier Lopez, So. San Marino
The sophomore finished ninth in the CIF-SS Division 1 100 butterfly and helped the Titans to ninth in the 200 medley relay. He broke 50 seconds for the first time this season in the Rio Hondo League finals, going 49.45. He was 18th in CIF in the 200 individual medley in 1:54.64.

Ryan Yue, Sr., Keppel
He anchored the distance events for the Aztecs, placing eighth in the CIF-SS Division 2 500 freestyle in 4:41.77 and ninth in the 200 free finals. He swam a 1:44.09 in the prelims. He also swam the opening leg of the 200 medley relay team, which finished seventh and the second leg of the 12th-place 400 free relay team.

FIRST TEAM — GIRLS
Kate Herrill, Fr., Flintridge Sacred Heart
The most stirring race of the freshman’s season was in the 200 medley relay. She rallied the Tologs to a Division 1 victory with a 22.82 anchor-leg split. She finished fourth in the division’s 50 free race in 23.66 and then fifth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.81.

Kailyn Koh, Sr., San Marino
The senior established sprint records in winning Rio Hondo League titles. She finished seventh in the Division 1 100 free in an area-best time of 51.29 and eighth in the 50 free. She swam a 23.63 in league, her fastest time of the postseason.

Victoria Lepesant, Sr., Pasadena
The senior had the area’s fastest time in the 500 freestyle, swimming a 5:00.11 in the Pacific League finals. She finished ninth in the CIF-SS Division 2 finals in the event. In the 200 free, she swam a 1:51.87 in league, the area’s No. 2 time, and was eighth in CIF.

Samantha Torrez, Sr., La Salle
Torrez helped the Lancers to a CIF-SS Division 4 title in 2012 with a pair of victories, but La Salle moved up a division and Torrez took a pair of thirds. She swam a 56.91 in the 100 butterfly and a 59.79 in the 100 backstroke. She took another third in the 200 medley relay.

Yida Wang, So., Keppel
The sophomore adjusted very easily to the Aztecs’ move up in CIF-SS divisions. She placed sixth in the Division 2 backstroke in 59.02, the area’s fastest time in the event this season. She was also sixth in the 200 individual medley in 2:08.54 and swam the opening leg for the 200 medley team, which finished ninth.

SECOND TEAM — BOYS
Garrett Chin, Jr., La Canada
Carlo Sivilotti, Jr., Flintridge Prep
Daniel To, Sr. San Marino
Samuel To, Jr., San Marino
Matt Varraveto, So., La Canada

SECOND TEAM — GIRLS
Katie Altmayer, Jr., Flintridge Sacred Heart
Samantha Campbell, Jr., La Canada
Siyao Li, Sr., Keppel
Tiffany Warmuth, Sr., San Marino
Madison Witt, So., Flintridge Prep

HONORABLE MENTION — BOYS
Alec Brierty, Sr., Pasadena
Marco Flores, Jr., Flintridge Prep
Victor Ginelli, Jr.. Maranatha
Victor Lau. Jr., Keppel
Dennis Lee, Sr., Temple City
Paul Gouw, Jr., La Salle
Brett Mirly, Sr., La Salle
Benjamin On, Sr., Keppel
Nathan Tsai, Sr., San Marino
Jamison Vaught, Sr., Maranatha

HONORABLE MENTION — GIRLS
Emily Balog, Sr., Flintridge Sacred Heart
Courtney Chan, Sr., Keppel
Laura Chun, So., Arcadia
Liza Echeverria, Jr., South Pasadena
Eliza Koh, So., San Marino
Annika Lenz, Sr., Pasadena Poly
Jennifer Langen, Jr., Flintridge Prep
Alisha Mah, Jr., Keppel
Jacqueline Torrez, Fr., La Salle
Samantha Zavala, Jr., South Pasadena

FASTEST TIMES — BOYS
(Compiled from league, CIF finals)
50 free: Peter Loakes, Jr., La Canada: 21.44
100 free: Peter Loakes, Jr., La Canada: 47.20
200 free: Ryan Yue, Jr., Keppel: 1:44.09
500 free: Dane Bell, So., La Canada: 4:33.57
100 back: Daniel To, Sr., San Marino: 50.96
100 breast: Justin Chiu, Jr., Keppel: 55.61
100 butterfly: Javier Lopez, So., San Marino: 49.45
200 IM: Brandon Nguyen, Sr., La Canada: 1:51.35
FASTEST TIMES — GIRLS
(Compiled from league, CIF finals)
50 free: Kate Herrill, Fr., Flintridge Sacred Heart: 23.66
100 free: Kailyn Koh, Sr., San Marino: 51.29
200 free: Tiffany Warmuth, Sr., San Marino: 1:51.50
500 free: Victoria Lepesant, Sr. Pasadena: 5:00.11
100 back: Yida Wang, So., Keppel: 59.02
100 breast: Kirsten Vose, So., Flintridge Sacred Heart: 1:02.57
100 butterfly: Katie Altmayer, Jr., Flintridge Sacred Heart: 56.63
200 IM: Kirsten Vose, So., Flintridge Sacred Heart: 2:03.47